Une RPG Extraordinaire.

I know that isn't proper French, believe me, haha.

As a heads up, this is a very story focused game, and I ended up writing a fair amount about the opening hour-ish of the game. The original plan was to also include some quick thoughts about the game's ending(s), but...well you can guess what happened, so the major spoiler stuff will be coming in the near future. For this, outside that opening hour it's just game mechanics, and character names. You know the drill, if you really care to experience the game for yourself, go do that, otherwise maybe my thoughts on the intro will inspire you to do so!

In all seriousness, if it wasn't clear (obscure) already, this is about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. A turn based FRPG made by a relatively, somehow now infamously small team of people (and still small when factoring in outsourcing and the like) in the heart of France. Well, I don't actually know what city the studio is in off the top of my head, but Clair Obscur wears its French heritage proudly, and for me that's part of the appeal. Despite France having quite a presence in game development (being the headquarters of Ubisoft!), there's not much in the way of high profile games that really embrace it like Clair Obscur.

Which is also funny to think about considering it defaults to the English dub for the voice acting. That, and it features several celebrity voices (Charlie Cox (Gustave) and Andy Serkis (Renoir)) amongst an accomplished group of great voice actors, who just aren't as big of names as those two. I know Jennifer English (Maelle) is quite well known for some role or another in Baldur's Gate III, who could say what, I haven't played it, and I also particularly liked Kirsty Rider (Lune) and Shala Nyx (Sciel) here. Honestly, the whole main cast is great.

For as French as it is with its bent Eiffel Tower in the distance, unlockable costumes with baguettes and berets, and mime mini-bosses, it's also weirdly British with the voice acting. French is available too, of course, but I happened to start the game in the midst of rewatching Daredevil, and I wasn't going to turn down hearing Charlie Cox as he led the titular Expedition 33.

I guess the characters then, are probably as good a place as any to really get into it. I'm old enough to remember when celebrity voices in video games were usually a drag (frankly sometimes they still are), and a stark reminder why there are people who specialize in voice acting. Never mind how phoned in (literally) it can sound when someone is only doing it for the paycheck, or because it was part of some contract they signed for a movie, thus they wound up voicing the game tie-in too. Fortunately that's not the case here, with Cox instantly endearing me to his charming but sad performance, and Serkis... He's Andy Serkis, he knows what he's doing behind a microphone, even when he's not hopping around in a mocap suit.

On the whole, games these days have better stories, and certainly much better told stories than back when I was a kid, so I expect that these days, yet... There's something about Clair Obscur that doesn't quite feel like anything else I've played, not recently at least. Not just the obvious French vibes, there's something about the game's mix of deep, profound sadness with one of the goofiest, weirdest senses of humor that stands out.

The game opens with Gustave standing on a rooftop, looking out at the expanse of the torn up and apart Lumiere (basically Paris, down to several landmarks). The Eiffel Tower bent to the side like it was molded out of wet clay, buildings ripped apart and floating the air, it's beautiful, but something...lonely just permeates out from the city. As he ponders, his young adopted sister Maelle comes to pester him in that was that only younger sisters can. In this case, it's to go reconnect with his ex Sophie before “the Gommage,” which the game does not bother to explain. Even in these opening minutes, there's just, something unnameable lingering in the air around the characters, around their performances. Something hanging over their heads that the players can't possibly know yet, but it's there.

So Gustave meets up with Sophie, they have an awkward but touching reunion, and decide to walk together down to the harbor before the Gommage. The game introducing one of its odder mechanics, which is being able to change who is the “walking around” character at any time with a click of L3.

Anyway, they go on this walk, talk with other people, you learn through bits and pieces that Sophie and Gustave really care about and love each other, it was just some differences of opinion that split them apart. Gustave wanted to start a family, but Sophie didn't, not because she dislikes or would never want children, but because she doesn't feel right bringing children into this world for...reasons she doesn't get into.

Still, they continue on, and get up to some odd situations if you poke around enough. The two spar a little to inspire a painting, and can find someone hiding in a trashcan. Never mind the automaton mime, the first of many hidden mini-bosses tucked away across the game. As much as the two wish this afternoon could last forever, eventually they can stall no longer, so they proceed to the harbor.

When it becomes clear why these two are acting like a guillotine is dangling over their heads, or at least Sophie's. Far across the sea, looms a tower so vast and tall it's visible from anywhere with a clear line of sight, with a giant woman before it. The Paintress, every year on the destined day, repaints the glowing number, ticking down one, and here it ticks from 34 to 33. As it does, everyone over the doomed age...they die, but don't just die.

They disintegrate into flower petals.

Gustave remains standing, alone, as Sophie fades away in his arms...

Then it makes sense. Who would want to have kids when you know you're going to die in your early thirties, and couldn't be there for them anymore? When you live in a world that while still beautiful in its own, haunting way, has been torn asunder? When you know the next generation won't even get to live as long as your own all too short life?

Not really that different from how I feel when I look at the real world, I find it baffling that anyone could want to have children in this day and age. Between the ongoing downfall of society, the dismantling of any part of the US government that actually helps people (and plenty of other countries facing similar problems!), and somehow most pressing of all, the looming and ever worsening climate crisis that is already here. It just primarily affects people in poorer (and frankly mostly non-white) parts of the world, so many try to pretend it isn't here yet.

So yeah, even in the opening hour of the game, Clair Obscur already going for it with its themes. But sad though it is to see loved ones fall apart, to feel them disappear and blow away in the wind, it also gives Gustave, and the rest of the expedition the resolve they need to head out across the sea. Every Gommage means a new expedition, and maybe Expedition 33 will be the one to stop the Paintress. And even if it isn't, as Gustave is wont to say, it's not just for them.

“For those who come after.”

That was already more detail about the opening than I intended to get into, but it sets the stage. For anyone who hasn't played yet, I'll let them see how “The Disaster Expedition” fares for themselves. Suffice it to say, the game that opens with society slowly dying out and the young having no future has some darker moments. There's a content warnings page amongst the splash screens, after all.

As I said above, this isn't just a story focused game, it's an FRPG, and definitely not one as an afterthought. Honestly, as much as I love the characters, and (mostly) like the story, the Game part of this game might be my favorite thing about it. Turn based RPGs have absolutely been on the upswing for me in recent years, but those have all been Sega published (Persona, SMT, and Like a Dragon), and proper JRPGs as opposed to FRPGs. You know, like how Mass Effect is a CRPG, Fallout is a classic ARPG, and who could forget The Witcher being a PRPG, etc.

But what makes Expedition 33 so special? On the surface it doesn't do anything that hasn't been done before. The Mario RPGs (MRPGs) have been incorporating timed button presses to enhance attacks and mitigate damage since the 90s, but they never felt like this one. It's not about the complexity of the buttons that need to be pressed, Mario & Luigi got pretty complicated with the some of the team-up specials, whereas it's just the X button on the attack here. It's on the defense where Expedition 33 gets complicated, with four different types of ways to evade damage.

Dodging and parrying can be swapped in and out for each other if all you want to do is avoid damage, and while dodging is easier, the best way to get action points back is to parry, and the only way to do a counter and hit them back is to properly parry every hit (aside from some cases). Some attacks can only be dodged by jumping, and then there's Gradient Counters, which hit a lot harder (both on you and the enemy). Of course all of these get interspersed amongst some enemy barrages, and they get really tricky with the windup animations. Some intentionally big and slow to trick you into parrying too early, others so fast I certainly couldn't parry them before taking a lot of hits learning the right timing.

I did play the game on Expert, which explicitly says a mastery of parrying is needed to succeed. More and more often these days, I do find myself turning the difficulty up on games when I want to actually have to make use of all the mechanics to their fullest. While it certainly extended my play time a lot (and I spent a lot of time listening to them sing “Clair Obscur” on the game over screen (I wish there was a quick retry option)), it improved my experience with the game. Of course, the difficulty can be changed at any time between fights, because I know not everyone wants games to be challenging like I do, and there's no shame in turning it down.

I mean, I didn't. Saying there's no shame in it is like, I would never judge other people, but I would absolutely judge myself, haha. I got the Platinum Trophy and beat all the hardest optional bosses on Expert!

Anyway, when it gets down to it, with its heavy emphasis on parrying, Expedition 33 kind of feels like the Sekiro of turn based games. But it's not just that, the presentation is a lot of what makes it feel special here, just like how From nailed the feel and sound of their parries. The big explosive effects, good use of slow motion, there's a lot more oomph and impact to everything than Mario & Luigi ever had, along with cool camera angles to accentuate the whole thing. This is a game that looks cool, and knows it.

Some of the enemies' attacks are long, and especially on Expert, you can't just tank those hits. Eventually I had my Expedition well equipped enough that I didn't need to parry every last hit to keep them flush in Action Points, but it was still worth parrying over dodging to get the counter attacks in. Every little bit of damage helps when this game is at its toughest, never mind the other buffs, debuffs, and other effects that can take effect. It's easy to scoff at buffs and debuffs in RPGs, but it can make the difference!

On the attack, again the button timing aspect is simpler, but that's because the gimmicks are more character focused. Gustave has the simplest one; he just builds up an overcharge meter that powers up one of his attacks. Lune, the second party member, immediately gets more complicated with her Stains. She's a spellcaster, and her spells generate Stains collected on her weapon (a floaty thingy with four slots). For example, a fire spell will generate at least a fire Stain, and maybe also a light Stain. But that same fire spell gets a boost if ice Stains are consumed, so it makes sense to cast the ice spell first. Then again, that one also consumes Stains, so how best to strategize and order them really comes down to however each player has built out their Lune, and what the situation calls for. Light Stains are wild cards, so my build was eventually focused on getting light Stains, to better boost everything, and to power a particularly brutal spell that requires one of each regular Stain...or any number of light Stains to fill in.

Then Maelle has different stances with buffs (or debuffs) on herself, different effects on her skills, etc. Sciel sticks magic cards to enemies like Gambit from X-Men, and has different polarities that affect her moves... Verso has a straight up Devil May Cry letter ranking system, and Monoco can transform into enemies for his moves. But first he has to be in the party while the enemies are defeated to learn their moves, which he does by...stealing their feet.

Perhaps now would be the moment to address the other F in FRPG, the thing that whether joking or otherwise really seems to come up about this game a lot...

I'm going to say a couple different things here. First, in addition to liking the way the characters are written, and the performances the actors gave, I also really like the character designs. Yes, they're conventionally attractive people, and the humans probably based on scans of real people's faces (not necessarily the actors themselves, though I go back and forth on if Gustave looks like Charlie Cox...or Robert Pattinson). But the outfits, and particularly the Expedition uniforms are really stylish and cool!

However, calling them “uniforms” when they all have some little quirks or adjustments to suit their needs, or personalities means they aren't literally “uniform,” but that's the nature of words. Out of all these quirks, the one that drew the most attention, both positive and negative, is that Lune's pants only go about midway down her calves, and she's barefoot.

Now, as one might guess, reactions on this span the gamut between questioning how wise it is to go on a dangerous journey without proper footwear (I certainly would be concerned I'd get a lot of cuts), and...enjoying the view, let's say. Rather than running, her sprint animation sees her floating through the air (again, she's a mage), with one foot sticking up not right center in the camera, but definitely in view. And they animated her curling her toes, so clearly someone working on this game put a lot of effort into it.

What I will say is, people seem to overlook the cool golden lines of Chroma affixed across her legs (and arm). Like, forget about the feet, she just looks cool. I don't know if the golden lines are just there for decoration, or if they aid in her spellcasting (I watched Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood earlier this year, which has a similar concept). Either way, I think they fit her aesthetic really well! Frankly, I'd much rather this sort of character/outfit design than the scantily clad/impossibly tight/trying too hard to be sexy route that a lot of video games still go with their women. It's not as much a thing in western games these days, but I feel like a lot of games made in Japan, China, and (especially) South Korea are still in pretty...questionable territory. I hate to single out a specific country like that, but have you seen Stellar Blade or The First Descendant? Embarrassing.

Anyway, none of the characters ever really talk about feet (aside from Monoco's collection of felled foe feet), so this is definitely a thing that players have made a bigger deal out of than the game does. Last thing I'll say, because I already spent far more time talking about feet than I probably should have...is that all jokes aside, I think Lune has cute feet. So that's where I stand on the subject. I also think the developers were cowards because the majority of her alternate outfits have footwear, and they should have fully committed to the bit. If they were trying to say something about her as a character through the way she presents herself with her clothing, or the ways she interacts with the world around her, that should have been more consistent with all the outfits!

Anyway, more customizable than the outfits (I at least like the hair options) is the combat side of the characters. There's Pictos and Luminas, which the game doesn't really do a good job explaining how they work. Pictos provide both a Perk, and various stat boosts. Each character can have three Pictos equipped at once, and once a Pictos (yes, singular has the s at the end) has been used in four battles, its Lumina is unlocked for everyone. Luminas cost points to equip, and provide the Perk, but not the stat boosts. So, use the Pictos to unlock the Luminas, then equip the Luminas as needed across the party. Eventually the stat boosts (thousands of more HP, defense, speed, and much higher crit chances) on the Pictos become more important than the perks, and the Luminas are where the Perks live.

These Perks range from giving extra AP for various actions, to different ways of activating buffs, or giving extra buffs or healing on top of a buff, to extremely powerful things like Cheater. Cheater has the character take two turns in a row, every time. Equip that on the whole party, and as long as the enemies aren't fast enough to interrupt the turn order, that's six actions in a row for the player. Pretty powerful! Some of the Perks get into what seem like silly territory, like instantly dying when a battle begins. Yet, there's others that give the rest of the party buffs, or damage enemies when someone dies, so there could be merit in a build focused on someone dying frequently, and being revived repeatedly!

Point being there is a lot of depth to the character builds, but I appreciate it's straightforward enough that it didn't overwhelm me. The rate at which I found new Pictos was just enough to keep me engaged with it throughout, but not so much that I couldn't handle, or keep up with it. Yes, the menus get very unwieldy at a point because there's a LOT, but the game at least lets you mark favorites, and sort them. Not that I bothered to unlock every last Pictos, at a point I skipped some. But I did for the die at battle start, for some reason. I think I just thought it'd be funny in the moment, haha.

Which like I said before, I love this game has that silly sense of humor to balance out the sad story. This is something I've long been a strong believer in, which is that even serious stories need a little levity sprinkled in. I already mentioned the goofy outfits, and the mime mini-bosses, but there's also the Gestrals. Bizarre beings that love fighting, and have the silliest gibberish speak I've heard since the incoherent “Italian” from the Mario & Luigi series. Usually when a Gestral merchant is encountered, they can be fought to open up the secret items, and they're more than happy to go for as many rematches the player desires. One in particular served as the fight I used to grind up to level 99 for that Trophy!

And of course there's Esquie, the cute mascot character. He's the answer to the question, “what if an airship was a large French friend filled with wine?” I know, we've all asked that at some point in our lives, I just can't believe it took this long to answer!

Of course any discussion of this game wouldn't be complete without mentioning the art, and just how varied and wild it looks. Certainly one of the most out there and beautiful worlds for a game that is, on some level, attempting to also go for “realism” than I've ever seen. That's not a great way to put it though, I mean realism in the since that the characters look like real humans, the textures are going for that, etc.

There is such a creativity to the types of environments, and the enemies, that's just breathtaking. From the torn up streets of Lumiere, to lush forests of red, undersea reefs devoid of water, yet still bubbling and rippling like there was water all around, and places I'm not even sure how I would begin to describe. They always said a picture's worth a thousand words, but I'd be hard pressed to actually try to describe a picture of this game's visuals in such a small space.

But maybe I'm just too long winded!

And, of course, the music. It spans so many different genres, and moods, and types of instrumentation that I am again, blown away. Swelling orchestras, driving electronic beats, and at one point a saxophone that hit so hard I had to stop what I was doing and post about it in a group chat! That same song even has what I'm pretty sure is a talk-box, which is one of my favorite effects that doesn't get used nearly enough. I also appreciate there are songs that feature people singing in French, and the only words I can actually make out are “Clair Obscur.”

In my initial draft, this is where I went straight into spoilers talk about the ending(s), but as I said that went on too long. So, for anyone who has finished the game, stay tuned, my extensive thoughts on that are coming soon! For everyone else, here's the outro. See you when next I write about another game (or after you finish this one!).

I love this game. I love the characters, I'm still enchanted by the world, and frankly if I didn't have a backlog of games to play (never mind Death Stranding 2: On the Beach coming up), I probably would have gone straight into new game plus to experience it all again. I have some frustrations with the endings, but those are waiting until next time, and otherwise, I really enjoyed the story.

The world needs more games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It certainly did well enough that I'm sure the studio is already at work on...whatever it is they want to do next, and I know I can't wait to see what it is.

As always, thank you for reading. There was a bit there where it was looking like I wasn't going to ever post on Giant Bomb again, with it seeming like it was all collapsing because of Fandom's mishandling, so I couldn't be happier that those knuckleheads wrested ownership away! Truly independent Giant Bomb, I never thought I'd get to see the day.

I know my blog is just a tiny little thing, tucked away in a corner of the site most people don't even go to, but I'm glad I still have my corner. I was genuinely looking into alternatives for where to post this stuff, because I know if I just keep all the words in my head, that won't be good for me in the long run. The best answer I had come up with was uploading PDFs to an itch page, so...I'm glad I can just keep doing this. As long as this site is still standing, and still owned by goofballs, I'm going to keep writing here.

At least as long as I still have something to say! Again, thank you, and I hope you have a wonderful day. <3